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Circumcision
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 Female
Genital Mutilation : A Guide to Laws and Policies Worldwide by
Anika Rahman (Editor), Nahid Toubia (Editor)
The book opens with a description of FC/FGM, its
history and its consequences for health. The authors look at the
reasons used to justify it - control of women's sexuality,
tradition, interpretation of religious dictates--and present a
history of the movement working to combat it.
'For all those working
on the elimination of FGM, this book provides a framework and
recommendations for practical legal policy and action.' -- Nafis
Sadik, UN Population Fund
 Circumcision
: A History of the World's Most Controversial Surgery by
David L. Gollaher
More than a million infant boys are circumcised
every year in America, the highest occurrence of this procedure in
the world. Why? Out of sheer cultural habit, concludes David
Gollaher in his groundbreaking study, Circumcision. The
tremendous momentum behind Gollaher's account is generated by one
simple question: what is known about this most common of
procedures? Alarmingly, precious little. Gollaher remedies that
problem by tracing the historical roots of circumcision as a rite
of passage into manhood in various ancient cultures before
bringing the reader to 19th-century America, when circumcision
rates skyrocketed through endorsements by the nascent American
medical profession, which credited circumcision with exaggerated
health benefits. Circumcision would eventually turn into a mark of
class distinction, and the surgery would become entrenched in
modern medical practices, despite scant study of its benefits,
dangers, or side effects. Gollaher is to be commended for
maintaining an even perspective on a practice that is sure to
become increasingly controversial; he allows the research itself
to fascinate and illuminate. As expected, there are many
unsettling graphic descriptions in this book, but its most
horrifying revelation is its most casual: the incontrovertible
fact that circumcision remains the least understood--yet most
widely practiced--surgery in the United States. --Sumi Hahn
Almquist
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From: Human Sexuality: an Encyclopedia
edited by Vern L. Bullough and Bonnie Bullough
New York: Garland Pub., 1994.
p. 119-122.
Excerpt:
Circumcision, once accepted as the norm in the
United States, has become controversial. Technically, circumcision
is the surgical removal of the skin that normally covers and
protects the head, or glans, of the penis. At birth, the
penis is covered with a continuous layer of skin extending from
the pubis to the tip of the penis where the foreskin (prepuce)
folds inward upon itself, creating a double protective layer of
skin over the glans penis. The inner lining of the prepuce is
mucous membrane and serves to keep the surface of the glans penis
(also mucous membrane) soft, moist, and sensitive. The prepuce is
often erroneously referred to as ``redundant'' tissue, which
allows the medical community and society-at-large to consider the
foreskin an optional part of the male sex organ and, therefore, to
condone its routine removal in a variety of procedures
collectively known as ``circumcision.''
Circumcision, however, was also a part of
religious ritual, including Judaism and Islam as well as others.
However, 85 percent of the world's male population is not
circumcised. Circumcision in 1992 was still the most commonly
performed surgical procedure in America, where 59 percent of
newborn males underwent this operation. Circumcision reached its
peak of 85 to 90 percent during the 1960s and 1970s. The surgery,
usually performed on baby boys within the first few days of life,
is often considered "routine." The most popular methods,
the Gomco
clamp and the Plastibell
procedures, differ somewhat in technique and instrumentation but
the effects on the penis and the baby are basically the same. Most
of the American circumcisions are not done for religious reasons,
but rather, for hygienic ones...
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From the Introduction:
In the West, routine neonatal circumcision was
instituted in the last century by well-meaning doctors as a way of
controlling masturbation, which was believed to be the root cause
of a number of diseases. As the state of medical
knowledge progressed, rationales for routine circumcision
gradually changed to match the cultural attitudes of the day,
which dwelt heavily on hygiene and health concerns. In many
developed English-speaking western countries (The United States,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand), and in parts of Africa and the
Middle East, routine genital cutting of children (male and/or
female) is practiced, either ostensibly as a health measure, or
for cultural or religious reasons...
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The Circumcision Information Resource Centre is
a non-profit organisation located in Montréal, Québec, Canada
which provides information
about non-religious infant circumcision and related topics, in
English and French.
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This is an index site for resources including
foreskin restoration, anatomy, care, possible problems, with
illustrations and more.
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This page keeps a list of news arfticles on
female circumcision and mutilation from all over the world.
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From MenWeb
By Frederick Hodges and Jerry W. Warner
Excerpt:
The subject of male circumcision is highly taboo
in America. Most men-- and this includes doctors-- would prefer
not to think about circumcision, and can become defensive when the
subject is brought up. Most American men have never even seen an
intact human penis.
Circumcision is not a benign surgery. Besides
destroying a significant segment of the male's sexual equipment,
it has a significant complication rate. According to an important
medical study, one serious complication-severe hemorrhage,
infection, loss of entire penis, or death-occurs in every 500
circumcisions (approximately 3,700 in 1993).1 According to another
study, "Death as a complication from newborn circumcision has
been estimated to occur in from 1 in 24,000 to 1 in approximately
500,000 [cases]. Some investigators have actively sought out
complications by interview and have recorded rates of 55%."2
These figures suggest that, with 1.2 million circumcisions
performed in this country each year, at least 3 boys die each
year, and for no other reason than that they were born in the
United States. Prospective parents are not given these facts...
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